Support Local at Certified Local Fall Festival

Word is out—Supporting local is the cool thing to do these days. AZ Wine Lifestyle’s mission is to support the local wine industry and like businesses by getting the word out to its readers. Local First Arizona has a similar goal—to strengthen communities and local economies through supporting local business.

Local First Arizona is the largest alliance of independent businesses in the country, so you can be sure they do things big. Their ninth annual Certified Fall Festival is set to take place Saturday, Nov. 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is returning with even more local merchants, food, drink and entertainment than ever before.

“We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the community for this annual event,” says Kimber Lanning, director of Local First Arizona. “When we first started nine years ago, it was just 25 vendors and several hundred attendees, and now it’s grown into an integral community event. This shows that each year, more and more people are making the connection between our communities’ wellbeing and the strength of our local businesses.”

Rick D’Elia, D’Elia Photographic

Located at Portland Parkway, 10 West Portland Street, right in the heart of downtown Phoenix, guests will be able to sample a variety of Arizona-made brews and wines at the Beer and Wine Garden. The restaurant booths and the Food Truck Court will be expanded this year to feature nearly 30 food vendors, including Postino, Windsor, St. Frances, Downtown Public Market, Short Leash Hot Dogs, Island Loco, Bruce Brown Catering, Awesome Cookie Company, Grateful Spoon Gelato and many more.

The Certified Local Fall Festival is family and pet friendly, and is free to attend. Kids will be able to partake in a variety of fun activities including yard games courtesy of Sam Fox’s Yard, a bounce house, face painting and arts and crafts. Live music and performances will entertain the crowds for the duration of the festival.

Food and drink tickets will be on sale for $1 each. (Food samples will require one ticket each, unless otherwise specified, and drink samples will require two tickets.) Raffle tickets will be sold on site for over 100 raffle prizes donated by Local First Arizona members and a silent auction tent will feature items from over 100 local businesses.

If you haven’t yet seen what our state’s local business scene has to offer, here’s the perfect opportunity!